Movie Review: The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Few can deny the significance The Lord of the Rings trilogy has had on film as a whole. It’s a lost art in terms of the way movies are made – model sets, props, makeup, costumes, and as many real actors as possible. The trilogy is an incredible achievement, sporting a level of craftsmanship and quality that very few films can match. Regrettably, the first chapter of a new prequel trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, contains little of what made the Lord of the Rings so magnificent.

I went back and watched The Fellowship of the Ring before I saw The Hobbit, and to this day I’m still blown away by the excellent photography and art direction. The real outdoor shoots, the beautiful lighting, the gorgeous crafted models – all of this is what makes the experience so memorable. These choices earned the trilogy multiple awards and recognition from critics worldwide, something The Hobbit is unlikely to achieve.

It’s baffling to me that the same director, Peter Jackson, and cinematographer, Andrew Lesnie, are responsible for both An Unexpected Journey and The Fellowship of the Ring. All those actors who played orcs and goblins are now merely CGI creatures, and the wonderful model locations have been replaced with green screen and CGI effects. Everything looks dramatically different, and in this case, that isn't a good thing.

Movie Review: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)



Have you ever watched a movie and thought that what you are seeing had the potential to be a masterpiece, but falls short thanks to some very strange choices? It’s a sad thing to have to say about any film, but it’s especially sad to say about Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a movie that has moments of absolute perfection. There’s so much about this quirky comedy that I loved, but severe shifts in the tone stop it from being all that it could have been.

Seeking a Friend is about doomsday and two people who fall in love in the most unusual of circumstances. A meteor is set to wipe out all human life on Earth, and Dodge (Steve Carell) is regretting every moment of his existence. Teaming up with his new friend, Penny (Keira Knightley), the two head out on a road trip to find Dodge’s lost love – something he should have done a long time ago.

Nintendo Wii Review: Wreck-It Ralph

A word of warning before you play Wreck-It Ralph for the Nintendo Wii: If you haven’t seen the movie yet, stay away from this game, because the film’s ending will be blown for you in the opening segment. However, if you have seen the Disney movie, stay even further away from this videogame version of Wreck-It Ralph, because it’ll taint your pleasant opinion of the characters forever. It’s obvious that this was intended to be little more than a quick cash-in, since the entire game will take you under two hours to finish – and that may be the only good thing about it.

For the most part, Wreck-it Ralph can be defined as a platformer, with a little bit of action mixed in for seemingly no reason. Had we been given a simple clone of some classic game in the genre, that would have been a much better idea. Going in, I expected this to be the Wreck-It Ralph game featured in the movie. Instead what we get to play is strange and lacks any discernible focus whatsoever.

Movie Review: Maximum Conviction (2012)

My friends and I were bored one night and decided to see what kind of bad movies we could rent and enjoy with a few beers. I certainly wasn't in the mindset for a good movie -- I simply wanted to relax with a guilty pleasure. I wanted something my friends and I could laugh at it in an intoxicated state, and just have a good time.

The very first mistake I made that night was renting Maximum Conviction, a film starring action legend Steven Seagal and WWE Superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin. You'd think a movie starring such an awesomely-terrible cast would offer some mindless entertainment, but you'd be wrong. Maximum Conviction is one of the most incredibly boring films I have ever seen, with acting and filmmaking that is so poor, you begin to wonder if there's some cruel god out there who just wants mankind to suffer.

I wanted some mind-numbing action from Maximum Conviction, and nothing more. There are plenty of gun shots and strange fist fights, but somehow none of it is cool to watch in the least.